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Sunday, September 17, 2017

Interview with the New Dean of the Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University

Editor: The Journal of Educational Controversy
welcomes the new dean of the Woodring College of Education, the home of the
journal.Dean Horacio Walker shares
some of his thoughts and background in the interview below.

1.What was it about the Woodring
College of Education that attracted you?

I am attracted to Woodring’s vision of honoring diversities and promoting
social justice. I believe that inequality is the most important problem facing
today’s world. Most violence and discrimination affecting people in different countries
and cultures is rooted in unequal rights and opportunities. Without a vision on inclusion of all people in
education and development opportunities, these problems cannot be properly addressed.
I believe that colleges of education are in a privileged position to influence
a social justice agenda around the globe.

I was also interested in the faculty and the programs they have developed
for the College. A few years ago, I was impressed with a presentation done by a
small delegation from Woodring at a conference on field experiences in teacher
education held at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile, where I
was dean.It was clear from the
presentation, that the College valued strong partnerships with the community
and wanted the prospective teachers to have genuine experiences in diverse
contexts. I thought that the vision and the mission of the College was
reflected in the way they structured and organized the process through which the
preservice teachers learn how to teach
and in the type of partnerships they foster with school districts and
individual schools.

2.What do you believe are the most
important challenges facing education and Schools of Education in the political
and social context of our time?

Education’s most important challenge today is removing barriers that
prevent learning and the development of the full child in schools. There are
financial barriers, such as having food on the table and appropriate housing.
There are also socio-emotional barriers, such as unsupportive family and school
environments for children and young people. There are cultural barriers, such
as beliefs about gender, race and sexual orientation. There are educational
barriers, such as unequal access to relevant and quality learning and non-inclusive
school environments that induce negativity among the students and reproduce
inequality in everyday practices. There are also political barriers, such as
top-down policies that inhibit partnerships between schools, the family and the
community.

Colleges of Education generally address some of these barriers. However, I
believe that a systemic approach to education is needed to understand how all of
these barriers are connected.In
Woodring we are privileged to have academic programs preparing students in teacher
education and also in health and community studies which provide different perspectives
on how systems work.

3.Could you share your basic philosophy
of education with us?

My basic philosophy of education is reflected in four main principles.
First, education is lifelong learning which must focus on the whole person,
fostering conditions for social, emotional and cultural development. Second, learning must be supported by a system
of interrelated factors, i.e. the family, the local community, the state and
the federal government. Third, educators must work to remove barriers that
prevent all children and youth from accessing and succeeding in educational
opportunities. Teachers and schools should have the highest expectations for
all. Fourth, education needs to be a public reference of inclusion and diverse
communities. Public schools are best suited to prepare new citizens to
contribute for an equitable and democratic society. It is a moral imperative
that governments must protect and support public education.

4.What would you want our students,
colleagues and readers to know about you as a person?

I grew up in the capital city of Santiago, Chile. Two childhood
experiences influenced my vision on education and inspired me to work in the
field my entire career.

Growing up I experienced the effects of socioeconomic segregation.
Families were grouped in neighborhoods according to their common background,
and children were grouped in schools where everyone looked similar.

In 10th grade, I was able to participate in a service-learning
program organized by my high school. I travelled to the south of Chile to help shantytown
dwellers build their own homes with government financial support. For the first
time I met several people who grew up in
a different part of the country, who had barely made it through elementary
school and who could not access secondary education. I was not ready to understand why.I remember vividly hearing them say to me
over and over, “I want you to work hard, go to college - don’t go through what
we have experienced.” Those words have stayed with me forever. As I went
through college, I understood that they were victims of social and economic
oppression that had condemned their families to poverty.

In 1973, during my first year in University, President Salvador Allende, who
was democratically elected in 1970, was overthrown by a military coup that
ruled the country through the early 90s. I lived my entire university years under
a curfew - hearing shootings at night and listening to horror stories about
people disappearing and being tortured. Yet I was prepared to teach in that
environment. However, I was not able to get a job in a public school, as all
were under control of the military regime. Instead, I began my career in non-formal
education, supporting community-based organizations struggling to help
themselves address basic needs.Those
experiences, framed by Paulo Freire’s work, shaped my basic philosophy of
education all during my career, in different contexts and institutional
settings.

2 comments:

Western is indeed fortunate to have an incoming Dean of the College of Education who professes a strong ethical compass and humanitarian commitment, commensurate with those of the College and especially encouraged by the outgoing Dean, Francisco Rios. Valuing lifelong learning, attention to structural issues, and a grounding in justice concerns such as those so hard-fought in Latin America are crucial for the education of diverse youth in countries like the United States, and for the times in which we live.

Western is surely blessed to have an approaching Dean of the College of Education who declares a solid moral compass and philanthropic responsibility, equivalent with those of the College and particularly empowered by the active Dean, Francisco Rios.

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This blog is an extension of the Journal of Educational Controversy.It aims to promote a conversation between educational professionals and the general public in a pluralistic, democratic forum. Its main purposes are to:

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